Latest news with #GreatTrust
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
How inequality hits the rich as well as the poor
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to What did you think of the Jeff Bezos wedding, where he and his bride, Lauren Sanchez, took over the city of Venice in a festival of extravagance (accompanied by an army of security guards to keep the hoi polloi away)? Personally, I thought it was gross. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's great novel turned into a great film. There is a line in it about the hyper-rich: "They were careless people," Fitzgerald wrote. "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Careless people who retreated into their enclaves and let the common people sort out the mess, is a thought for our times as the power of the rich seems completely unconstrained. When Donald Trump came up with his plan in February for a Riviera of the Middle East in Gaza, I assumed it was some sort of Trumpian "joke" - just a daft suggestion to annoy the chattering classes. But it turns out it was real. The Financial Times has seen the presentation slides. "Titled the 'Great Trust' and shared with the Trump administration, it proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza," it reported. "The plan also envisages what the authors called the Gaza Trump Riviera & Islands, 'world-class resorts along the coastline and on small artificial islands similar to the Palm Islands in Dubai'." We are now in a new Gilded Age, where the very wealthy flaunt extravagant lifestyles as they did from the 1870s until the new century. It's not just in America. In Australia, the gap between rich and poor is widening. "Australia is becoming more unfair and more unequal. Our research shows that the wealthiest Australians now have 90 times more wealth than those with the least - and that gap is widening every year," Anglicare's director Kasy Chambers said after the organisation had studied the matter. Should those of us who are comfortable worry? As concerned, caring citizens, of course, we should - but beyond that? Does it have any real consequences? It does. The research shows that the more unequal a society is, the worse a raft of bad consequences are, and these bad consequences affect everyone, including the very rich who might imagine they can isolate themselves in gated communities and private jets. A marvellous book, The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, says that unequal societies have higher levels of violence, mental illness, drug abuse, obesity, and poor educational achievement. Moreover, these bad effects affect the rich as well as those down the scale. The rich in unequal societies suffer more stress than the rich in more equal societies. They are more prone to depression. They are more likely to be victims of crime. When we all feel like we're in the same boat, we feel better and behave better. When we are not, community spirit withers. Bad things happen. Obvious, really. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it obvious? Let me know what you think. How does inequality cost all of us something? What should be done about it? What did you think of the Bezos wedding? Send your thoughts to echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Erin Patterson was found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder after three members of her family died from death cap mushroom poisoning in August 2023. The 50-year-old invited her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, to lunch on July 29, 2023. - The former police officer who fatally shot an Indigenous teenager in a remote community was racist, a coroner has found, and those attitudes were reflective of an institution that tolerated racism. Mr Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, in November 2019. - A woman in her 50s who was mauled by an African lion in a "horrific" attack lost her arm in the incident at Darling Downs Zoo in Pilton, a small town in Queensland's Toowoomba region. THEY SAID IT: "New money shouts. Old money whispers," Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. YOU SAID IT: I opined that AI couldn't create music I would want to listen to. Music wasn't just a string of notes, I thought. It needed human experience behind it. Sue disagreed: "As I understand AI music, it is composed from past human experience, and if that is the case, then the notes and words are based on previous emotions. As for wedding poetry, if the words resonate with the bride and groom, isn't that enough?" Philip leaned towards my view: "AI will only ever repeat the past because that's where it gets its data. It can never develop a new style. It can never innovate." Elaine said: "AI is mimicry, so who gets sued for copyright? It is cheating original artists of their work without consequences, I say NO to AI's use of other people's talent without their permission." I had disagreed with Garry, who had more time for AI-generated music. "Sorry, Garry, Steve is right," Patricia said. "Music comes from the heart, the soul, the guts. It comes from human experience." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to What did you think of the Jeff Bezos wedding, where he and his bride, Lauren Sanchez, took over the city of Venice in a festival of extravagance (accompanied by an army of security guards to keep the hoi polloi away)? Personally, I thought it was gross. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's great novel turned into a great film. There is a line in it about the hyper-rich: "They were careless people," Fitzgerald wrote. "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Careless people who retreated into their enclaves and let the common people sort out the mess, is a thought for our times as the power of the rich seems completely unconstrained. When Donald Trump came up with his plan in February for a Riviera of the Middle East in Gaza, I assumed it was some sort of Trumpian "joke" - just a daft suggestion to annoy the chattering classes. But it turns out it was real. The Financial Times has seen the presentation slides. "Titled the 'Great Trust' and shared with the Trump administration, it proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza," it reported. "The plan also envisages what the authors called the Gaza Trump Riviera & Islands, 'world-class resorts along the coastline and on small artificial islands similar to the Palm Islands in Dubai'." We are now in a new Gilded Age, where the very wealthy flaunt extravagant lifestyles as they did from the 1870s until the new century. It's not just in America. In Australia, the gap between rich and poor is widening. "Australia is becoming more unfair and more unequal. Our research shows that the wealthiest Australians now have 90 times more wealth than those with the least - and that gap is widening every year," Anglicare's director Kasy Chambers said after the organisation had studied the matter. Should those of us who are comfortable worry? As concerned, caring citizens, of course, we should - but beyond that? Does it have any real consequences? It does. The research shows that the more unequal a society is, the worse a raft of bad consequences are, and these bad consequences affect everyone, including the very rich who might imagine they can isolate themselves in gated communities and private jets. A marvellous book, The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, says that unequal societies have higher levels of violence, mental illness, drug abuse, obesity, and poor educational achievement. Moreover, these bad effects affect the rich as well as those down the scale. The rich in unequal societies suffer more stress than the rich in more equal societies. They are more prone to depression. They are more likely to be victims of crime. When we all feel like we're in the same boat, we feel better and behave better. When we are not, community spirit withers. Bad things happen. Obvious, really. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it obvious? Let me know what you think. How does inequality cost all of us something? What should be done about it? What did you think of the Bezos wedding? Send your thoughts to echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Erin Patterson was found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder after three members of her family died from death cap mushroom poisoning in August 2023. The 50-year-old invited her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, to lunch on July 29, 2023. - The former police officer who fatally shot an Indigenous teenager in a remote community was racist, a coroner has found, and those attitudes were reflective of an institution that tolerated racism. Mr Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, in November 2019. - A woman in her 50s who was mauled by an African lion in a "horrific" attack lost her arm in the incident at Darling Downs Zoo in Pilton, a small town in Queensland's Toowoomba region. THEY SAID IT: "New money shouts. Old money whispers," Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. YOU SAID IT: I opined that AI couldn't create music I would want to listen to. Music wasn't just a string of notes, I thought. It needed human experience behind it. Sue disagreed: "As I understand AI music, it is composed from past human experience, and if that is the case, then the notes and words are based on previous emotions. As for wedding poetry, if the words resonate with the bride and groom, isn't that enough?" Philip leaned towards my view: "AI will only ever repeat the past because that's where it gets its data. It can never develop a new style. It can never innovate." Elaine said: "AI is mimicry, so who gets sued for copyright? It is cheating original artists of their work without consequences, I say NO to AI's use of other people's talent without their permission." I had disagreed with Garry, who had more time for AI-generated music. "Sorry, Garry, Steve is right," Patricia said. "Music comes from the heart, the soul, the guts. It comes from human experience." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to What did you think of the Jeff Bezos wedding, where he and his bride, Lauren Sanchez, took over the city of Venice in a festival of extravagance (accompanied by an army of security guards to keep the hoi polloi away)? Personally, I thought it was gross. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's great novel turned into a great film. There is a line in it about the hyper-rich: "They were careless people," Fitzgerald wrote. "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Careless people who retreated into their enclaves and let the common people sort out the mess, is a thought for our times as the power of the rich seems completely unconstrained. When Donald Trump came up with his plan in February for a Riviera of the Middle East in Gaza, I assumed it was some sort of Trumpian "joke" - just a daft suggestion to annoy the chattering classes. But it turns out it was real. The Financial Times has seen the presentation slides. "Titled the 'Great Trust' and shared with the Trump administration, it proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza," it reported. "The plan also envisages what the authors called the Gaza Trump Riviera & Islands, 'world-class resorts along the coastline and on small artificial islands similar to the Palm Islands in Dubai'." We are now in a new Gilded Age, where the very wealthy flaunt extravagant lifestyles as they did from the 1870s until the new century. It's not just in America. In Australia, the gap between rich and poor is widening. "Australia is becoming more unfair and more unequal. Our research shows that the wealthiest Australians now have 90 times more wealth than those with the least - and that gap is widening every year," Anglicare's director Kasy Chambers said after the organisation had studied the matter. Should those of us who are comfortable worry? As concerned, caring citizens, of course, we should - but beyond that? Does it have any real consequences? It does. The research shows that the more unequal a society is, the worse a raft of bad consequences are, and these bad consequences affect everyone, including the very rich who might imagine they can isolate themselves in gated communities and private jets. A marvellous book, The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, says that unequal societies have higher levels of violence, mental illness, drug abuse, obesity, and poor educational achievement. Moreover, these bad effects affect the rich as well as those down the scale. The rich in unequal societies suffer more stress than the rich in more equal societies. They are more prone to depression. They are more likely to be victims of crime. When we all feel like we're in the same boat, we feel better and behave better. When we are not, community spirit withers. Bad things happen. Obvious, really. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it obvious? Let me know what you think. How does inequality cost all of us something? What should be done about it? What did you think of the Bezos wedding? Send your thoughts to echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Erin Patterson was found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder after three members of her family died from death cap mushroom poisoning in August 2023. The 50-year-old invited her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, to lunch on July 29, 2023. - The former police officer who fatally shot an Indigenous teenager in a remote community was racist, a coroner has found, and those attitudes were reflective of an institution that tolerated racism. Mr Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, in November 2019. - A woman in her 50s who was mauled by an African lion in a "horrific" attack lost her arm in the incident at Darling Downs Zoo in Pilton, a small town in Queensland's Toowoomba region. THEY SAID IT: "New money shouts. Old money whispers," Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. YOU SAID IT: I opined that AI couldn't create music I would want to listen to. Music wasn't just a string of notes, I thought. It needed human experience behind it. Sue disagreed: "As I understand AI music, it is composed from past human experience, and if that is the case, then the notes and words are based on previous emotions. As for wedding poetry, if the words resonate with the bride and groom, isn't that enough?" Philip leaned towards my view: "AI will only ever repeat the past because that's where it gets its data. It can never develop a new style. It can never innovate." Elaine said: "AI is mimicry, so who gets sued for copyright? It is cheating original artists of their work without consequences, I say NO to AI's use of other people's talent without their permission." I had disagreed with Garry, who had more time for AI-generated music. "Sorry, Garry, Steve is right," Patricia said. "Music comes from the heart, the soul, the guts. It comes from human experience." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to What did you think of the Jeff Bezos wedding, where he and his bride, Lauren Sanchez, took over the city of Venice in a festival of extravagance (accompanied by an army of security guards to keep the hoi polloi away)? Personally, I thought it was gross. It reminded me of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald's great novel turned into a great film. There is a line in it about the hyper-rich: "They were careless people," Fitzgerald wrote. "They smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made." Careless people who retreated into their enclaves and let the common people sort out the mess, is a thought for our times as the power of the rich seems completely unconstrained. When Donald Trump came up with his plan in February for a Riviera of the Middle East in Gaza, I assumed it was some sort of Trumpian "joke" - just a daft suggestion to annoy the chattering classes. But it turns out it was real. The Financial Times has seen the presentation slides. "Titled the 'Great Trust' and shared with the Trump administration, it proposed paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza," it reported. "The plan also envisages what the authors called the Gaza Trump Riviera & Islands, 'world-class resorts along the coastline and on small artificial islands similar to the Palm Islands in Dubai'." We are now in a new Gilded Age, where the very wealthy flaunt extravagant lifestyles as they did from the 1870s until the new century. It's not just in America. In Australia, the gap between rich and poor is widening. "Australia is becoming more unfair and more unequal. Our research shows that the wealthiest Australians now have 90 times more wealth than those with the least - and that gap is widening every year," Anglicare's director Kasy Chambers said after the organisation had studied the matter. Should those of us who are comfortable worry? As concerned, caring citizens, of course, we should - but beyond that? Does it have any real consequences? It does. The research shows that the more unequal a society is, the worse a raft of bad consequences are, and these bad consequences affect everyone, including the very rich who might imagine they can isolate themselves in gated communities and private jets. A marvellous book, The Spirit Level by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, says that unequal societies have higher levels of violence, mental illness, drug abuse, obesity, and poor educational achievement. Moreover, these bad effects affect the rich as well as those down the scale. The rich in unequal societies suffer more stress than the rich in more equal societies. They are more prone to depression. They are more likely to be victims of crime. When we all feel like we're in the same boat, we feel better and behave better. When we are not, community spirit withers. Bad things happen. Obvious, really. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it obvious? Let me know what you think. How does inequality cost all of us something? What should be done about it? What did you think of the Bezos wedding? Send your thoughts to echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Erin Patterson was found guilty of three murders and one attempted murder after three members of her family died from death cap mushroom poisoning in August 2023. The 50-year-old invited her parents-in-law, Don and Gail Patterson, her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, and his aunt and uncle, Heather and Ian Wilkinson, to lunch on July 29, 2023. - The former police officer who fatally shot an Indigenous teenager in a remote community was racist, a coroner has found, and those attitudes were reflective of an institution that tolerated racism. Mr Walker was shot three times at close range by then-constable Zachary Rolfe at a home in Yuendumu, 300km northwest of Alice Springs, in November 2019. - A woman in her 50s who was mauled by an African lion in a "horrific" attack lost her arm in the incident at Darling Downs Zoo in Pilton, a small town in Queensland's Toowoomba region. THEY SAID IT: "New money shouts. Old money whispers," Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. YOU SAID IT: I opined that AI couldn't create music I would want to listen to. Music wasn't just a string of notes, I thought. It needed human experience behind it. Sue disagreed: "As I understand AI music, it is composed from past human experience, and if that is the case, then the notes and words are based on previous emotions. As for wedding poetry, if the words resonate with the bride and groom, isn't that enough?" Philip leaned towards my view: "AI will only ever repeat the past because that's where it gets its data. It can never develop a new style. It can never innovate." Elaine said: "AI is mimicry, so who gets sued for copyright? It is cheating original artists of their work without consequences, I say NO to AI's use of other people's talent without their permission." I had disagreed with Garry, who had more time for AI-generated music. "Sorry, Garry, Steve is right," Patricia said. "Music comes from the heart, the soul, the guts. It comes from human experience."
Saba Yemen
5 days ago
- Business
- Saba Yemen
PFLP warns against plan to turn Gaza into investment project
Gaza – Saba: The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) on Monday warned of a dangerous plan to transform Gaza into an investment project built on the ruins of the Palestinian people. The PFLP condemned a scheme, revealed by the Financial Times, led by Zionist businessmen with the Boston Consulting Group and the Tony Blair Foundation. Called "Great Trust," the plan aims to liquidate the Palestinian cause by marketing "economic peace" as a substitute for national rights, uprooting Palestinians through financial incentives, and turning Gaza into an economic zone under Zionist control. Describing the plan as a colonial extension of Netanyahu's vision, the PFLP warned it involves mass displacement and selling Gaza lands to investors to create a "colonial riviera" under the guise of "industrial settlement." The Front urged all Palestinian factions to unite and resist these projects, emphasizing that Gaza is not for sale but an integral part of historic Palestine. It called on international parties to avoid involvement, affirming that the Palestinian people will confront and reject these plans with all their strength. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print more of (International)
The National
5 days ago
- Business
- The National
Anas Sarwar 'must cut ties' to Tony Blair Institute amid Gaza plan row
The Financial Times has revealed that the Tony Blair Institute (TBI), a non-profit organisation founded in 2016, is involved in a project led by Israeli businessmen which used financial models developed inside the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to envision Gaza as a trading hub. Plans outlined in a slide deck, titled the 'Great Trust', were shared with US president Donald Trump and included a proposal to pay half a million Palestinians to leave the area and replace them with private investors to develop Gaza. According to the newspaper, the TBI did not author or endorse the final slide deck, but two members of its staff were involved in message groups and calls as the project developed. READ MORE: Wes Streeting calls John Swinney an 'analogue politician' amid NHS row This has led to backlash, with the SNP saying the Scottish Labour leader and the Prime Minister have 'real and urgent questions to answer'. SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said it was 'common knowledge' that Starmer's Downing Street political operation and Scottish Labour are 'inextricably linked and influenced' by the Tony Blair Institute. We previously reported on how Scottish Labour are reportedly consulting with TBI, which has previously called for more private involvement in the NHS, on its health policies ahead of the Holyrood 2026 election. (Image: PA) 'The Tony Blair Institute has been involved with a group who were developing a plan which amounts to ethnic cleansing in the Gaza strip. It is one more awful stain on Tony Blair's shameful legacy in the Middle East,' Flynn (above) said. 'Given their close co-operation and ties to the Tony Blair Institute, real and urgent questions now need to be answered by both Keir Starmer and Anas Sarwar. It is common knowledge that their senior teams are inextricably linked and influenced by this Institute which, we now know, was present when a plan to steal Palestinian land and livelihoods was being developed.' The SNP MP added: 'Both Starmer and Sarwar have at least three urgent questions to answer - will they come out and publicly condemn the former Labour Party Leader, Tony Blair, whose Institute has been part of this sickening plan? Will they fully reveal their own dealings with this Institute and their team's involvement with the staff who were aware of this sickening plan? And will they now commit to cut all ties and all funding to the Tony Blair Institute? "If the Labour Party fails to immediately cut ties to the Tony Blair Institute, it will also severely undermine their credibility in achieving a two state-solution in the region. 'The Labour Party were shamefully slow in calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the UK Labour Government is still authorising the sale of arms to an Israeli Government that is engaged in the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. These revelations are another part of that shameful story for the Labour Party and their neglect for the plight of the Palestinian people.' Scottish Labour and Labour have been approached for comment.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Tony Blair's think tank worked on ‘Trump Riviera' plan for Gaza
London: Former British prime minister Tony Blair's think tank worked on a post-war plan for Gaza that included a 'Trump Riviera' inspired by Dubai. The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) worked on a project led by Israeli businessmen in which a manufacturing zone named after Elon Musk was also discussed. Fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas has been ongoing in Gaza for 20 months since the terror attacks of October 7, 2023. Donald Trump this year proposed redeveloping Gaza as 'Middle East Riviera' and shared a provocative video of a vision for Gaza that included skyscrapers, bearded belly dancers and golden statues of the US president. Members of staff at the TBI had input into Boston Consulting Group (BCG)'s 'Great Trust' project. One document written by a TBI employee included the idea of a 'Gaza Riviera' with artificial islands. A similar concept was shown in the video shared by Trump. The Financial Times, which first reported the plan, said the document suggested trade initiatives based around cryptocurrency and 'special economic zones' with low-tax regimes. It went on to claim that the war in Gaza, in which tens of thousands of people have died, had created a 'once-in-a-century opportunity to rebuild Gaza from first principles'.
The Age
6 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Tony Blair's think tank worked on ‘Trump Riviera' plan for Gaza
London: Former British prime minister Tony Blair's think tank worked on a post-war plan for Gaza that included a 'Trump Riviera' inspired by Dubai. The Tony Blair Institute (TBI) worked on a project led by Israeli businessmen in which a manufacturing zone named after Elon Musk was also discussed. Fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas has been ongoing in Gaza for 20 months since the terror attacks of October 7, 2023. Donald Trump this year proposed redeveloping Gaza as 'Middle East Riviera' and shared a provocative video of a vision for Gaza that included skyscrapers, bearded belly dancers and golden statues of the US president. Members of staff at the TBI had input into Boston Consulting Group (BCG)'s 'Great Trust' project. One document written by a TBI employee included the idea of a 'Gaza Riviera' with artificial islands. A similar concept was shown in the video shared by Trump. The Financial Times, which first reported the plan, said the document suggested trade initiatives based around cryptocurrency and 'special economic zones' with low-tax regimes. It went on to claim that the war in Gaza, in which tens of thousands of people have died, had created a 'once-in-a-century opportunity to rebuild Gaza from first principles'.
